Preface

The Royal Society has long been concerned with knowledge concerning the distribution of animals and plants on the globe. We need only mention its association with the voyages of Captain James Cook. It was with this tradition in mind that in 1956 Council set up the Southern Zone Committee. The initial suggestion for this came from its first Chairman the late Professor Carl Pantin, who was deeply concerned with the need for describing the fauna and flora of areas, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere, clearly necessary for adequate knowledge of the original distribution of life before natural boundaries were in one way or another completely obliterated by human activities. To this end an initial expedition was run to southern Chile and later, among other activities, and owing to the particular stimulus of Professor Corner, interest became focused on the Solomon Islands. Here one was concerned with the island chain leading from New Guinea towards the ultimate Melanesian islands of the Fijis. Following this Expedition, attention was naturally drawn to a continuation of work into the New Hebrides. It is the results of this Expedition that we are now discussing and which, incidentally, point the way to further work involving the Santa Cruz Islands.